rationalize
by Duzzie
Summary: / Izumi / He knows she's not what she makes herself out to be, and one of these days, he's going to figure her out.


**A/N: **_first time I've tried writing a Yankee/Megane story. It's a bit harder than I thought it would be, but I've become very fond of the story and wanted to try writing a little something about Izumi and his denial (though, up to the latest chapter, he's not in much denial about the stuco being friends anymore, I still figure he'd try and rationalize it if ever confronted about it)._

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**I**zumi thinks there's something a little off with Adachi.

Besides the fact that she most likely has the lowest scores in Mon Shiro High, and that blocking her kicks feels like blocking a two-ton bulldozer, and being around her is like asking to be dragged into something stupid, besides that, there's something about her and he can't put his finger on it.

Almost like there's much more to her than any of them really realize, than any of them have thought to look into. Of course there's the matter of her incredible strength (though he suspects that Shinagawa knows something about that), but there's also, occasionally, that _look _in her eyes.

Because sometimes, out of the corner of his eyes, when Shinagawa is lazing away from his duties, sleeping on the couch, and when Chiba is figuring the club's funding in the corner and Himeji is sweeping the floor for the tenth time in an hour and _he_ has just finished all of his work, he can see Adachi sitting across from him, staring out the window, and there's a darkness around her that doesn't fit with what (he thinks) he knows about her at all.

It's unsettling, to say the least. He's a smart guy, smarter than anyone he knows (Chiba doesn't count because he's a freak of nature), and he's always been pretty good at figuring people out. For instance, he knew the second he'd met Shinagawa that he was an idiot. He knew that Himeji was all bark and no bite, and that Chiba probably didn't have what it took to back up his attitude.

And after more careful observation, he also knew that Shinagawa was not just an idiot, but a really, really big idiot, a loyal one, though. A guy that took care of business and knew his responsibilities when it came to comrades, and if nothing else, he can grudgingly respect him for that.

Himeji and Chiba had qualities that he found tolerable as well. Izumi knew that no matter how Chiba protested, he'd still let himself be dragged into a fight that he really had nothing to do with, aside from the fact that his friends were idiots, and that Himeji wouldn't let anyone else bully her underlings for her. They were easy to read, easy to predict, easy to categorize (though he did so with something he wouldn't admit was akin to fondness).

Adachi was not.

The first time he'd seen her, as she came barreling into the men's bathroom, Izumi'd thought that she was possibly the plainest and most stupid girl that he'd come in contact with. A moment later he was dodging a kick that left his arms feeling broken, staring into a serious (but…sort of…pretty…) girl's face. After that, he doesn't remember too much.

She smiles at him when they all make it into student council. It's not the smile of a stupid girl, or the smile of a fighter; it's just a smile, a plain, everyday, girl smile. Again, he feels uneasy. There is no category for her, because he doesn't know who she is or why she is and if there's anything that unnerves him more than scoring lower than Chiba, it's being unable to figure someone out. He tells himself this is the only reason he puts up with the new student council's idiocies.

But after his first run-in with her in the men's bathroom (which, soon after, he learns to avoid using the last stall on the right…) that serious fighter doesn't show up again. He watches for it, watches for her during fights, but he doesn't see her. She's hiding something, he knows, and that's the only reason he watches her when no one's looking, and never says no to one of her idiotic plans (because what would the consequences be if he did?). That's certainly the only reason why he decides to come back to the student council, after all, why else would he want to put up with a bunch of idiots all day long, everyday?

Izumi thinks there's something a little off with Adachi, something he can't quite put his finger on.

He's more than willing to wait and find out what it is.


End file.
